"I can't conceive having that cheese in my stomach. I don't know what that cheese is. I don't think anybody does," he once said.

Speaking of chips, he did seem to have one on his shoulder whenever Sloan tried to motivate him.

If Sloan disparaged Amaechi, based on sexual preference, it was wrong. Period. However, I tend to think at least part of Amaechi's resentment stems from Sloan's insistence that he play harder and get in shape.

Amaechi's revelation that he is gay should neither upset nor exhilarate fans. It's no more relevant to his game than heterosexuality is to straight players; no more or less shocking than announcing he's a Libertarian, or a member of the National Rifle Association. It probably should be a one-day story.

The WNBA — widely believed to have numerous gays — was in Salt Lake six seasons, but sexual preference never came up. Nor should it.

It didn't affect interviews in the locker room and it didn't affect the game. In fact, it didn't affect much of anything.

So perhaps it's time to downplay the "outing" stories on athletes, even when the athlete outs himself. Make it a non-issue. Then maybe we can see Amaechi's book for what it is — a former NBA player who saw an opportunity.

Hopefully it's more interesting than his basketball career.

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com